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My Hero Academia is returning in October 2022 with the sixth season of the anime, finally animating the much-anticipated ‘War arc’ of the series. The latest official trailer for season 6 shows both the heroes and villains gearing up for battle and fighting to create an ideal world for themselves.
Each of these characters shows a manic dedication to their beliefs and philosophies, but none as blatantly as the three central characters in the series.
This article explores how My Hero Academia protagonist Deku, deuteragonist Bakugou, and tritagonist Todoroki have become physical manifestations of their obsessions in the series.
However, in order to keep this analysis spoiler free, the article will only consider events adapted into the anime up till the end of season 5.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the My Hero Academia anime. All external media in this article are the property of their respective owners.
Different forms of obsession portrayed in My Hero Academia by three main characters of the series
Shoto Todoroki
From the very first season of the My Hero Academia anime, Shoto shows a propensity for using only half of his power, embracing one aspect of himself while vehemently rejecting the other.
But rather than the Half-Hot Half-Cold Quirk itself, Shoto hates what it represents - a reminder of his father’s ambition and how it destroyed not only his mother’s sanity, but also alienated him from his siblings.
His father’s obsession with acquiring a successor who will surpass All Might in his stead slowly wore away at his mother’s mental health. Rei finally snapped and in a moment of madness she mistook Shoto for Endeavor and burned him with boiling water, leaving a permanent scar on his face.
While the anime has not yet properly delved into what exactly happened, it has been revealed that Shoto and his siblings had an older brother, Toya. Toya's fire Quirk was even more powerful than Endeavor’s, but he had died in a mysterious accident, which Natsu Todoroki blames their father for.
Endeavor then used Shoto to try to fulfill his own ambitions and cope with his inferiority complex for never being as powerful as All Might, but it simply turned his son against him.
In season 1 of the My Hero Academia anime, Shoto refused to activate the fire element of his Quirk, relying completely on his ice element, adamant that he would not become like his father.
It was not until Deku reminded him mid-fight that the power belonged to him and not to his father, that Shoto used the full extent of his Quirk for the first time.
Season 5 of the My Hero Academia anime showed his relationship with his father slowly improving, but it is still extremely volatile, similar to his control over one half of his Quirk.
Katsuki Bakugou
Katsuki Bakugou was initially introduced as an arrogant, ill-tempered character and a bully in My Hero Academia. Many expected him to become an antagonist in the series, but after season 3, it became painfully apparent that Katsuki was simply a product of the twisted values that defined their society.
Since the very beginning of the My Hero Academia series, Katsuki has shown an obsession with strength, swearing to surpass even his idol All Might. Flashbacks to Deku and his past revealed that he was a confident child, the designated leader among his friends.
After his ‘Explosion’ manifested, Katsuki was praised for being born with a powerful Quirk, while Deku was either pitied or despised for being Quirkless and weak.
He grew up believing in a hierarchy based on strength, and became especially bitter towards Deku due to an incident where the latter tried to help him after he fell into a stream from a bridge.
Katsuki was conditioned into thinking that Deku was and should be helpless because he didn’t have a Quirk, and the latter’s refusal to accept fate sparked the beginning of an inferiority complex in him.
Katsuki was made keenly aware of his own strength after enrolling in UA Academy, especially seeing the extent of Shoto’s Quirk. He felt further betrayed after Deku inherited One-For-All and joined UA, believing that Deku had hidden his powers for years and pretended to be weak to mock him.
He began to put two and two together, and after All Might’s final fight in Kamino Ward, confronted Deku about it. The parallel shocks of being kidnapped, being invited to become a villain, seeing All Might’s true emaciated form and realizing Deku, who he had bullied for years for being weak, had inherited that power, finally took its toll.
Ironically, it was Deku who saw past Katsuki’s violent rage, despite being his personal punching bag for years, and understood that the latter’s entire belief system was falling apart and he was succumbing to his insecurities.
Katsuki’s obsession with strength remains, but his rapid character development and maturity in seasons 4 and 5 of the My Hero Academia anime has been evident from the comparatively healthier rivalry he has established with Deku and Shoto.
Izuku Midoriya
Just like the true nature of One-For-All, Deku himself has multiple obsessions. It has been clear from the very beginning of the My Hero Academia anime that Deku has a major “savior complex.”
Born Quirkless, Deku was bullied and discriminated against all his life, until he met his hero and idol, All Might. Deku and Katsuki had both dreamed of becoming heroes but unlike the latter, his obsession lay with saving people rather than fighting and defeating villains.
He has a habit of taking extensive notes on heroes and their Quirks, which extend to his hero-course classmates. His analytical mindset is naturally geared towards overthinking, while his innate kindness and self-worth issues make him try to save as many people as possible, even putting his own life at risk each time.
Season 3 of My Hero Academia showed that he also has a habit of blaming himself when he is unable to save someone, as was the case when Katsuki was taken by the League of Villains from right in front of him.
Deku constantly feels the need to prove that he is worthy of being a holder of One-For-All, even considering giving up the Quirk to Mirio in My Hero Academia season 4 after being unable to save Sir Knighteye’s life.
His obsession comes with a desire to make Toshinori proud, who he sees as both a mentor and a father figure. This makes Deku prone to burdening himself with more responsibilities than any sixteen-year-old should have to bear, even if he is the holder of One-For-All.
Luckily, having Shoto as his friend and with some of the bad blood between Katsuki and him resolved, Deku has begun relying on them a bit more, which will pave the way to him becoming a better hero.
Shonen anime often forgets that the protagonists and major characters burdened by the responsibility of saving the world are mere teenagers, disregarding their trauma by giving them an iron will and an optimistic disposition.
Popular new-gen shonen like My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen have begun subverting this trope, presenting their trauma as what drives them onwards.
These shows provide a more realistic portrayal of how these events affect their personalities and priorities, and due to their impressionable age, become obsessions that define them.
